At A.B. Richards, we know that people use our portable storage containers for all sorts of reasons. We’ll help you get organized for a move or a business start-up. If you run a seasonal business, our units are perfect for off-season storage. If you’re planning a yard sale or need extra space for record-keeping, A.B. Richards portable storage units are ideal. But have you ever entered a storage container just to kick back and have a cup of Joe and a pastry? Believe it or not there are places where you can do that.
A.B. Richards is the Solution for All Your Storage Needs
A.B. Richards can provide solutions for all of your storage needs. And we’re constantly amazed by the creative ways people use storage containers. We’re a rental company and we can’t let you convert one of our units into a trendy cafe, but we’re seeing that happen around the country and around the world. So we thought we’d tell you a little bit about this phenomenon. So let’s go out for coffee and learn more about storage container cafes.
A Major Chain Converts Containers
It’s not just small businesses that convert storage containers into cafes. Perhaps the most famous cafe operator in the world has done it. Starbucks created a drive-thru operation out of four shipping containers in 2011, according to the Seattle Times. The cafe is 448 square feet and contains enough space for three baristas to work.
The Seattle area is known for its shipping. “Our coffee and tea are shipped from their countries of origin in shipping containers, so this is kind of full circle for us,” said company spokesman Alan Hilowitz. The store certainly attracted attention, winning Architectural Record’s Good Design is Good Business Award, according to Smithsonian Magazine.
An Exotic New York Cafe
You don’t have to go all the way to Seattle to find a shipping container cafe. An Australian bakery recently opened for business in New York City. They specialize in the middle eastern dessert knahfehs which they bake out of a shipping container at the Queens Night Market and in Brooklyn. “Queens has been amazing, Brooklyn’s been incredible,” company founder Ameer El-Issa told WNBC-TV. “Once we can make it in New York, we can make it anywhere.”
Spurring Economic Growth
A new shipping container cafe is going to open in Detroit in 2018 as a way to give back to the neighborhood. Detroit Dough will be fashioned out of six shipping containers, and will include a patio and a bar.
“What better way to give back than to spur economic growth in a neighborhood that’s very near to your heart. Sometimes people only want to do one day of community service or support by donating, but I believe that the best way to really create an impact is to develop something that gives back in more ways than one,” co-founder/CEO Autum Kyles told Detroit MetroTimes. Residents of Detroit’s NY Goldberg neighborhood will receive a discount.
A.B. Richards Will Rent the Storage Containers You Need
There are all sorts of uses for portable storage containers and at A.B. Richards, we’ll give you the right container for the job. Whether you need storage containers for residential use, industrial use or at a worksite, A.B. Richards can help. Contact us today.